With Heritage Day fast approaching, a group of about 120 young people, mostly from Khayelitsha and Mitchell’s Plain, are busy getting their steps in for an upcoming 18 km hike up Table Mountain.
On Saturday 24 September, the Table Mountain Hiking Challenge (TMHC), organised by the Cape Province Mountain Club, will see these youths climb up Platteklip Gorge, starting at Kloof Corner, and descend at Kasteelspoort.
To prepare, participants were staggered across two training hikes, with 75 attending the first session on Saturday 6 August and 45 the second on Saturday 20 August. A final training hike is scheduled for Saturday 3 September.
Sheryl Haupt, club convener, explains that the training hikes are in place to assess the fitness of the participants and to educate them on how to safely explore hiking trails.
“We are constantly teaching. That teaching is not only on the mountain but before, when we advise them on what to wear, how to pack a bag and food required for the day,” says Haupt.
She adds that the young people who signed up for the event can only enter the hiking challenge once they have attended the training hikes.
“Not all youth we take on training hikes complete the hike or return for the event. Basically, our aim is to find the youth who are interested in hiking and are fit enough to enter the challenge,” she says.
Aimed at the youth (younger than 24), the hiking challenge was launched in 2011 by the club as an outreach project in disadvantaged communities. It usually has two entry categories: an outreach category for students and a paid-entry event for more serious athletes or hikers. With the event having been suspended for two years during the Covid-19 pandemic, only the outreach category has made its return this year.
Haupt explains that for the first few years, the TMHC committee members sponsored the event through donating and seeking donations from friends and family.
“We needed a plan to sustain the outreach programme. We decided on a paid event for experienced hikers to sustain the outreach event. Unfortunately, having been dormant for two years and given the economic impact of Covid-19, we were unable to pull it off for 2022. We are working towards it for 2023.
“Currently, our event partners are the City of Cape Town and the Rotary Club of Kirstenbosch.”
The City’s recreation and parks department is covering transport for participants to and from the training hikes and the main event on Heritage Day, meals and water on training hikes and string bags.
Patricia van der Ross, Mayco member for community services and health, says hiking gives young people an opportunity to step away from their stress, unplug from technology and commune with nature.
“I encourage our young people to consider hiking as an exercise, but at the same time to ensure they do so safely. Join a hiking club and if you’re just starting out, do not walk on your own,” says Van der Ross.
Haupt says, so far, 50 volunteers from various hiking clubs have signed up to help ensure the participants’ safety on the day of the event.
At the last training session, 15 Cape Province Mountain Club members volunteered their time to serve as marshals.
Some of their duties include ensuring the correct trails are followed, encouraging participants to keep a steady pace with breaks in between and showing them how to navigate potential dangerous areas.
“The volunteer marshals are the heart and soul of this event,” says Haupt.
Split up into two teams, the participants on the day will attempt to finish the 18 km hiking course as well as tasks.
Haupt says the latter is about safety, mountain etiquette and so on. For example, what do you do if you get lost or what causes heat exhaustion?
These topics and more were covered during the training hikes. Haupt says for many who go on the training hikes, it is the first time they step foot on Table Mountain.
“They are excited and amazed at their surroundings. They are in awe of the views they see from the top.
“Luckily, most of the youth in disadvantaged areas play a sport like soccer or netball, so most are fit enough to hike. They are in great spirits because it is a new experience,” she says.
